Friday, November 05, 2010

Dozens Killed Just Over Border

If nearly 50 people had been killed in a shootout just feet from the border causing all bridges over the Rio Grande to be closed, you'd think it would be breathlessly reported. 30 dead in a shootout at noon and 17 more in a second shootout near city hall! Among the dead is a reporter and a cartel murderer known as "Tony Tormenta". The reporter seems to have gotten in the way of the soldiers fighting the war against the murderers.

Update: Finally a report on ABCNews Radio Network but only about 5 reported dead - the criminal and some law enforcement. Not a word about the real number, that it was near Matamoros City Hall, nor that it was just over the border.

Gunfire broke out in Matamoros Friday, leaving at least 47 people dead and causing the closure of all three bridges between Brownsville and Mexico.

The fighting reportedly involved members of the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas and Mexican federal police and military

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College closed the Fort Brown campus and moved the soccer games scheduled for Friday night to the Brownsville Sports Park.

Gunfire was reported in Matamoros in a number of incidents beginning Friday morning, with at least 30 people dead by around noon, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition that his name not be used.

In the afternoon, a major confrontation near city hall killed at least 17 more people, the source said.

One of those killed around midday was identified as Carlos Alberto Guajardo, 37, a reporter for the newspaper El Expreso. Sources with knowledge of the incident said Guajardo apparently was killed by soldiers who were chasing narcotics traffickers.